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The present invention relates to a bucket insert. More particularly, it relates to a bucket insert which has a lower portion with a smaller volume and an upper portion with a larger volume. The present invention also relates to a bucket insert which receives a wringer for floor cleaning and keeps clean wash liquid separate from dirty liquid.
In a floor cleaning process, a mop and a mop bucket are usually involved. A wringer is typically mounted to a mop bucket to wring the liquid from a wetted mop. During a cleaning process, the mop is dipped into a washing liquid contained in a bucket and is moved around the floor to remove dirt from the floor. In order for it to clean, the mop needs to be wrung repeatedly with the wringer and wetted by dipping it into the washing liquid. The dirty liquid squeezed from the mop in other systems was returned to the clean washing liquid. Thus, the washing liquid in the bucket is contaminated quickly.
Devices have been developed to overcome this disadvantage. U.S. Pat. No. 5,548,865 discloses a device for collecting dirty washing liquid and for containing clean liquid for wetting a floor-cloth for washing floors. The device includes a main container which supports a wringer and defines a compartment for collecting the liquid produced by wringing the floor cloth, and a secondary container or insert which is mounted to the top portion within the main container and contains clean washing liquid for wetting the floor cloth. Thus, the clean washing liquid is separated from the dirty liquid contained in the main container.
Although this device provides the advantage of separating the dirty fluid from the washing fluid, it suffers several drawbacks. First, because of the way the device is configured, the insert can only be fitted into certain buckets specially designed to receive the insert. Secondly, because the insert is mounted to the top portion of the bucket and is used to contain the clean washing liquid, the whole system is not very stable when first starting the cleaning as the washing liquid contained by the insert tends to raise and off-center the center of mass. Another problem is that there is no room for keeping the mop because the insert is not deep enough and it is not desirable to keep the mop in the dirty liquid of the main container.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,798,307 discloses a bucket having separate reservoirs for segregating clean washing liquid form dirty washing liquid. The bucket contains a discharge transfer compartment with holes on its bottom wall for wringing a mop and draining the dirty liquid into a discharge storage reservoir which is located beneath the discharge transfer compartment and occupies the whole lower portion of the bucket. The floors of the discharge transfer compartment and the clean liquid reservoir are shaped with adequate slope or curvature so that particulate material discharged from a mop is caused to move to the lowest point for removal. However, this bucket does not use a removable insert. Instead, a discharge transfer compartment and a discharge storage reservoir are used. Because they are mounted nonremovably and contain holes and curvatures, it is not convenient to clean the bucket.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,562,841 discloses a bucket provided with a squeeze plate for squeezing a mop of the sponge-type material. The bucket has an inner bucket for containing clean washing liquid and a separate container for receiving a filter and the dirty liquid drained through the filter. The separate container or insert has a fixed size and shape determined by the dimensions of the filter and the squeeze plate (wringer), therefore, can not be used for other types of buckets and mops.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,983,441 and 6,006,397 disclose a pliable mop bucket insert that is pushed against the side walls of the bucket. The insert is removably attached to the bucket and used to collect the dirty liquid while the bucket contains the clean liquid. The entire insert is placed in the bucket thereby reducing the volume of liquid that can be used in the bucket and requiring the user to refill the bucket more frequently.
Therefore, there is a need for a bucket insert and wringer, which separates dirty wash liquid from clean wash liquid and overcomes the disadvantages exist in the wash buckets and inserts as discussed above. Furthermore, there is a need for a bucket insert that reduces the time and effort needed to complete a job.
The objects of the invention therefore are:
a. Providing an improved insert for a wash bucket.
b. Providing an insert of the forgoing kind which has a larger capacity than those previously employed.
c. Providing an insert of the forgoing kind which displaces a minimum amount of space when placed in a bucket.
d. Provide an insert of the forgoing kind which affords ease of mopping.
e. Providing an insert of the forgoing kind which can fit into buckets of various sizes and accommodate wringers of various shapes.
The foregoing objects are accomplished and the shortcomings of the prior devices are over come by the invention which in one aspect provides a bucket insert having a container body with a lower and an upper portion, the upper portion having a larger volume than the lower portion. The lower portion of the bucket insert is adapted to be inserted into a bucket and the upper portion is arranged to extend laterally over the lower portion and to receive a wringer device. This arrangement allows for the insert to retain a larger volume while still not greatly reducing the volume of the wash bucket. The bucket insert includes a hook member that is operatively connected to the container body for connection to the bucket.
In another aspect, the hook member is connected to the upper portion and extends over the lower portion of the insert.
In one embodiment, the lower and upper portions have a front wall, a back wall, two side walls and with respect to the lower portion has a bottom wall.
In another embodiment, the walls of the upper and lower portion are connected by shoulder sections.
In still another aspect, the invention provides a mopping apparatus for collecting dirty wash liquid. The apparatus includes a bucket for containing clean washing liquid. The lower portion of the previously described insert is placed in the bucket with the upper portion extending above the bucket. A wringer is supported on the upper portion of the insert.
These and still other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the description that follows. In the detailed description below preferred embodiments of the invention are described in reference to the full scope of the invention. Rather the invention may be employed in other embodiments.